Why I don't celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Calpulli Mexican Dance Company performed this month at Wortham Theatre.

Photo: Julieta Cervantes/Calpulli

I am Latina 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. My identity doesn't fit in a 30-day window designated by the government.

It's not something I can discard when convenient, or don on special occasions. It is who I am. It is an identity that fills me with pride, creates a kinship with those who share my heritage and opens me up to hostility from those who see Latinos as an alien threat.

There are nearly 54 million of us living in the United States, almost one in five people in the country. Two-thirds of Latinos were born here; about 70 percent speak English fluently.

We are doctors and journalists, custodians and landscapers, scientists and entertainers, athletes and cooks. We are college graduates and high school dropouts. We are business owners and petty criminals. Our skin is white and brown, caramel and coffee. Our bloodlines are Arab and African, European and Asian.

We are, like every other racial and ethnic group on the face of the planet, a population of complexity and diversity. La Raza Cosmica, the Cosmic Race, as Mexican philosopher José Vasconcelos dubbed the people born in Latin America.

We also are mainstream Americans, one of the biggest consumer groups in the U.S., the largest users of social media and e-commerce, one-fourth of movie-ticket buyers.

You wouldn't know that by watching TV or following most media outlets. We tend to be invisible or non-existent, relegated to supporting roles or second-tier jobs, pigeonholed as "illegal immigrants" and devious maids. In the workplace, we still see job candidates with less experience but better connections get ushered to the head of the line.

Until the middle of September.

That's when marketers and editors and TV producers remember we exist. That's when you'll see specials and photo galleries devoted to Latino foods and festivals. When words like "fiesta" and "adelante" shout from headlines. When Top Ten lists of the best Hispanic movies and the top Mexican restaurants pop up on your newsfeed.

For 30 days, our culture takes center stage. Until the middle of October.

And then, once again, we are pushed to the margins, wedged into stereotypes, reduced to one dimension.

That's why I won't be observing Hispanic Heritage Month.

Because, instead of seeing videos of swirling bailes folkoricos, I'd rather see television series and films built around strong Latino characters. Instead of reading about the best burritos in town, I'd rather see Latino academics and scientists quoted as experts. Instead of token Spanglish words, I'd rather see equity in hiring and retention.

Monica Rhor is a narrative writer covering gender, sexuality, spirituality and race issues for the Houston Chronicle. She also has been a staff writer for the Associated Press, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and Orange County Register. She's written about riots in Miami and hurricanes in Houston, uncovered serious flaws in California’s restraining order system and documented stalled investigations of serial killings in South Florida. Monica, who was born in Ecuador and raised in New Jersey, also has taught high school journalism and English.